History of Vorona
The History of Vorona spans many centuries from the colonization by the Deltarian Empire to their independence and the rise of the House of Bavoria to their current state. Colonization The island of Vorona, before their colonization by the Deltarian Empire, was home to a mysterious indigenous people who are to believed to have been killed by the Deltarian colonists (some are suspected to have actually escaped to south Dovani). Historians believe that prior to colonization the people living on the island most likely migrated from Dovani centuries earlier and set up their own settlements. Evidence gathered in modern times have revealed that prior to their exile and murder by the Deltarian Empire the inhabitants of Vorona were quite good at ship building. For many centuries the details regarding the early history of Vorona and their colonization by the Deltarian Empire were kept secret but recent years documents uncovered have brought to light their history. The earliest known records of the Deltarian colony of Vorona date back to the year 2308 that established the government of the new colony; it is believed Vorona was colonized in around the year 2300 by Deltarian settlers who engaged in ethnic genocide of the indigenous people. The Deltarian colony known as Deltaria Nova would rule from 2308 and 2370. Arrival of the Deltarians The written earliest records of the Deltaria Nova Period date back around 2313, and deal with the ethic genocide of the indigenous people and the use of the island as a holiday get away by the Deltarian Aristocracy, who imported the Akigan too work the land. Ruled by the Grand Duke Vladimir I of the Lineyka Dinastiya, Imperial rule lasted between 2308 and 2370. Vorona was colonized by the Deltarian Empire mainly to allow the serfs for the Deltarian nobility to work there around the 2308-2309. Much of the Deltarian nobility set up companies and some actually moved there to garner increased wealth from the serf labor that had become even more unregulated on the new colony; the Czar of Deltaria had granted the nobility greater freedom to the nobility concerning labor regulations. Deltarian reconnaissance teams identified and subsequently forced out or killed the native people of Vorona to free up land for the nobility once they arrived in Vorona; the genocide was kept secret by the Deltarian Empire for many years before it was exposed shortly before their downfall in the 2600s. Vorona was a prime candidate to expand the Deltarian Empire and to increase their wealth as well as their power. Vorona was placed conveniently between the continents of Dovani and Seleya allowing Deltaria to position themselves within this area and to as well act as a player in the sea trade between the continents. Birth of Deltaria Nova The Czar of Deltaria split up Vorona into 10 districts and appointed his closest Deltarian advisors to lead those districts (called Royal District Administrators) to oversee and report back to the Czar on the activities going on within that district. These districts were usually dominated by one or two noble families who owned vast pieces of land within these areas and usually had close connections to the Royal District Administrators. The Royal District Administrators along with members of the nobility combined would form the "Royal Parliament of Deltaria Nova", the governing body for the colony established by the Ducal Administrative Plan. The Czar of Deltaria would act as both the Head of Government and Head of State. Ducal Administrative Plan also contained provisions for citizenship requirements; citizenship was only granted to people who owned land in Deltaria Nova and only those born to Deltarian nationals become nationals in Deltaria Nova. This made it virtually impossible for the serfs and slaves to even have a chance to become a citizen or to vote. Slave Trade & Colonial Exports The Deltarian nobility profited greatly from the unregulated slave trade in Deltaria Nova. The colonization of Vorona created a boom in the slave trade that would last some time before the arrival of communism in the colony. Deltaria Nova, with it's location in the Anantonese Ocean and Schismatic Sea, became a port for exporting and importing slaves from Deltaria and to other nations at the time who were involved in the slave trade. Many of the indigenous people of Vorona who were not killed during Deltaria's colonization process were bought and sold routinely. Many slaves were bought as servants but more were bought by the nobility of Vorona to work on tobacco, cotton, wheat, and sugar plantations dotted throughout the island. Wheat and sugar would become major exports for the colony for some time, with profits going to the nobility as well back to the homeland in Deltaria. Communism In Deltaria Nova In a sudden and strange turn of events, rumors abounded that the Lineyka Dinastiya aristocrats, including the Grand Duke Vladimir I, had mysteriously disappeared. A nation-wide manhunt by police and military forces did not turn up any leads as to the Dinastiya's whereabouts or status. Also of note, is that the Elite Royal Hussar Guard were also nowhere to be found. Some suspect that the Okhranka was involved in some way with the disappearances. There were no signs of a break-in or struggle inside the Royal Palace and there were no witnesses. Security film footage also has disappeared. With the government in chaos and now leaderless, the Communist insurgent group formerly known as the Deltarian Socialist Workers Party moved on the capital city of Saint Sebastian from the mountainous wilderness of Barovia. Oddly enough, those believed to be Okhranka agents and operatives offered no resistance and seemed to have stood by. Police and military also offered no resistance. The Deltarian Socialist Workers Party, under the leadership of Chairman Strelnikov, introduced a series of radical reforms but remained part of the Deltarian Emperor and retained loyalty to the Czars. The indiscriminate genocide of the indigenous people continued with greater fervour than ever during this period, and Nova Deltarian elections gained a reputation for there brutal unfairness unsurpassed throughout the world, resulting in one the longest surviving one-party systems in Terran history. The system collapsed in 2469, and the Monarchy restored under Alexander I, Prince of Deltaria Nova. Occupation and Independence During the 2550s, Deltaria Nova braced for a "peacekeeping" surge from the Deltarska Federacia. Deltarians of the Nova condemned the actions of the Duma (Deltarska's lawmaking body) which unanimously voted in favor of occupation. The then reigning Prince Ladislav announced through His Royal Highness's personal Press Secretary that the Peace Keeping mission was no longer valid and Deltaria Nova was officially an independent Kingdom come June 2560, when the transition to autonomous self-government shall was finalized. Prince Ladislav, who also held the title of General Secretary and Chairman of the Communist Party and Supreme Commander of the Deltarian Red Army called upon guerrilla forces to remove the Mainland Deltarian occupiers. Ladislav also called upon His Knights and regular troops to assist in the struggle. By 2560, the mainland Deltarians were forced out and the nation was renamed the Kingdom of Vorona. Vorona, coming from an ancient Deltarian word 'voron' meaning 'Raven' - one of the official birds of the Kingdom - has been chosen as the official name, as 'Land of the Raven'. Vorona Kingdom of Vorona During this period Vorona remained a dictatorship ruled by the royal family, and played a prominent role as headquarters of the Axis, to whose members it liberally gifted titles. Little political activity happened during this period, as the Monarchy remained intolerant of any opposition. Sancta Sedes (Status Pontificius Voronae) After the extinction of royal houses of Vorona with the death of king Ladislav II the heritage is passed to the Terran Patriarchal Church, under the leadership of the Liberation Theology fraction, with the so called "donation of Vorona". The college of cardinals decided to reform the state and to create an Apostolic constitution, in order to give to new state a solid base. However, they were quickly displaced by Dirty Carl's 'HIV for Everybody' Crusade, a religious movement so strange many scholars have spent years trying to understand why people voted for it, until Dirty Carl was replaced by James Vorenus of the Hosian Socialist Alliance, ushering in 31 years of papal rule by different fractions of the Church (Liberation theology, Front of Hosian Order and the Hosian Socialist Alliance). However, popular support for Hosian democracy waned and eventually public apathy lead to most of the parties disbanding and only the Front of Hosian Order remaining to rule the nation. First Anglo-Deltarian Revolution The Anglo-Deltarians, who worked as serfs under the Deltarian Duchy and were oppressed under the Communist regime, flooded the polls in 2691 to vote for the Angeln National-Spartakist Heremanists (Angeln National-Bolshevik Soliderists) a party which was inspired by the ideology of the former Soviet Reich. The Parties program, called Soliderism, is one of nationalism, Agrarian Socialism and Anti-Clericalism. It's was highly popular in a nation which has been ruled in feudal style for countless centuries. The Front of Hosian Order's leader was burnt at the stake, and under the leader of Edward Von Godwin the Second, the A.N-S.H introduced a radical series of cultural and political reforms designed to empower the Anglo-Deltarian peasantry, and pursued a friendly policy towards the Irradiated Remains of Gaduridos, a post-apocalyptic military state founded after Gaduridos nuked itself. However, tension emerged between the Metzist (the Godwinhēafodstōl mob) and Thulist sections of the Anglo-Deltarian movement. Rise of Thule After decades of social upheaval, the revolutionary wing of the Freccan and the National-Spartakist Heremanists (the Godwinhēafodstōl mob) have been attacked and purged after it was discovered Odeist elements planned to bring about a International Communist regime to replace Godwin. Godwin reacted quickly by mobilizing the Freccan 8th Tank Crop against the Godwinhēafodstōl mob. On live television Godwin promised the "troubled days of our Revolution have ended, now we shall enter a age of stability and National Unity" and proclaimed himself Emperor of the Anglo-Deltarian People, Battle leader of the Freccan, Leader of the Revolution and guide of the Angeln state in life and death ('' Cāsere of se Angeln-Deltariancynn, Hildewīsa of se Freccan, Ealdor of se Áwendendnes ēac Gewissian of se Angeln Rīcu on līfe ge on legere Edward Von Godwin II''). The Anglo-Deltarian Patriots, a Terran Patriarchal opposition party, were targets of repression by the Freccan after introducing pro-Clergy legislation and declaring their opposition to the rule of Cāsere Godwin. Godwin called the A-D.P "Hosian infiltrators" and blamed former Crusading orders of the Terran Patriarchal Church for the violence. Riots broke out in the Barovia scēat, where the A-D.P were most popular. Shortly, after the Thule Soceity achieved full supremacy over the government and proceed to carry out a programme of extreme industrialisation and suppression of the working classes, with means of creating the perfect totalitarian soceity. Here is a sample of some literature typical to this period. It is vitally important that Social Caste Reorganisation be implemented in the old cities as well as the new ones perhaps even more important. Old hate think will persist if the old cities remain old-type, and will eventually poison the love-think of the new cities. The Thule regime was also active as a member of the global peacekeeping organisation and maintained good relations with Kalopia. Anglo-Deltarian Freccan entered Kafuristan as the first contingent of GPO forces. However, after the death of Godwin the system relaxed and the nation was overwhelmed with Doron and Hulstrian immigrants. Constitutional Monarchist Era In 2725, the so-called Voronan Monarchist Movement came into power and claimed to have re-established the long gone monarchy in Vorona, though they had no connection to either the original Deltarian royal family or the Godwin's. The monarchy was quickly recognized by the International Monarchist League and many other nations. The archduke, Valdemar von Barovia, was accused of distorting the history of Vorona in order to legitimise his regime, and cooperated with the several other parties who occasionally occupied the National Assembly. Revolt and Rebellion 2750-2751 In 2750, a local anti-religious group called the Atheist Army took control of several villages in the Barovian countryside. The Atheist Army quickly created the Atheist Republic of Vorona and took immediate control of the villages, along with announcing an "unholy war against the monarchy, nobility and religion in general." The military was been called to action, and surrounded the villages hoping to besiege them into surrender. Later that month they were forced out of their hiding places by the Voronan military, captured and put on trial. However, several AA leaders managed to escape, although these were discreetly tracked down and put on trial in the following years. Removal of the Monarchy After nearly a decade of the anti-monarchist parties growing in power, the VMM caved into intense pressure to disband, leaving the nation to the hands of the Freedom and Democracy Front and the Republican Populist Party. This coalition removed Archduke Valdemar from the throne, and was suspected of putting a price on the Archduke's head. In the year 2764 he was found dead in his castle home. The Archduchess followed months later. In the following three decades, Vorona experienced massive instability with ruling coalitions coming and going, never permanent. The royal family was slowly picked off until it was expected that there was no true male heir to the throne. Return of von Barovia In the year 2796, a young man calling himself Konrad I of Vorona stepped from the shadows claiming to be the son of the late Princess Janne, the last member of the (il)legitimate royal family. With the support of the powerful Voronan Catholic Church, the young man was crowned Konrad I, Archduke of Vorona, Earl of Pulund, and Head of House von Barovia. However, this title was in name only, for the Imperial Royalist Party controlled nearly the entire legislature as well as all of the branches of government. Archduke Konrad von Barovia relied heavily on the support of the dominating Voronan Catholic Church. Due to the IRP's adamantly atheist position, the Church jumped on the opportunity to retain their power through the young Archduke. In the year 2800, he had married Cecilia Gorsky, a choice that sparked controversy across the nation after that fact was revealed during the Archduke's rule. Cecilia Gorsky is the niece of Mikhail Gorsky, the husband of the late Princess Janne. The Voronan Catholic Church, however, silenced the controversy by fully consenting to the marriage. Archduchess Cecilia bore Konrad three children, however, she died giving birth to their forth child, along with the baby itself. The first, Crown Prince Johanne I, was born in 2800, followed by Princess Janne, the next year. In 2803, Second Prince Valdemar II, was born. Restoration of the Archduchy The Kampenkorps under Konrad von Barovia fought a silent war against the Imperial Royalist Party, and the Communist Party after them. Night raids on offices and military bases were a growing issue, and the people of Vorona were being turned more and more against the ruling government. Continually rigged elections grew much dissent amongst the people, particularly in Barovia. Eventually the people rose up against the 'President' of the nation in support of the Archduke. The Communist Party fell to pieces and the Kampenkorps immediately took charge of many key positions across the island. The new monarch wasted no time in using the support he had gained. Many royal decrees were put forth increasing the power of the monarchy and the nobility. Radical changes were made in the legislation, and while some were frowned upon, nobody would raise a voice against the man that had 'saved' them from the oppressive communists. The capital was moved to the fortress city of Dechow, in the coastal Barovian country side, the location of the ancestral home of House von Barovia. The city was full of the Archduke's loyalists, and the choice was suspected to have more to do with that fact, than the official reasons. Second Communist Uprising Archuke Konrad I maintained power for merely a few years, though he passed countless laws in his short reign. The majority of these laws were seen as oppressive by the opposition, which largely consisted of former Communist Party members. The political atmosphere of the nation was still tense from the recent revolt against the Cassilos government, and it did not take long for the communists, under the New Revolutionary Front, to seize control of the nation. Whilst Dechow was left untouched, more than half of the major cities were taken by small locally organized groups. The Kampenkorps were too concentrated on Dechow and the surrounding area to wrestle control from the NRF militias, and the military had been suspiciously withdrawn from the conflict. Beginning in the year 2806, the NRF ruled, overturning many of the Archduke's legislation. The city of Dechow was firmly held by the Kampenkorps, but very little else could be done while keeping the capital safe. Any chance of the Archduke regaining control seemed slim, at best. Richter, Kolbe, and the Archduke In January of 2813, the newly ascended head of the Kampenkorps, Maximillian Richter, struck a deal with the leader of the Voronan Armed Forces, Ferdinand Kolbe. The Kampenkorps feined surrender to the communist militias outside of Dechow as the Vornan Armed Forces surrounded them. Before the communists fully took control of the city, the VAF struck and destroyed the disorganized and surprised forces. The communists soon surrendered to the Archduke. For their part in the defeat of the communists, the Archduke elevated the two Generals to nobility. Ferdinand and his heirs would forever hold power as Dukes of Mustin. Maximillian and his heirs were given the title of von Vojnovy, effectively making them Grand Dukes of Vojnovy Pokrik, and the second most powerful family in Vorona. Anglo-Deltarian Restoration However, the Thule Soceity had all this while simply been bidding its time. The once iron rule of the Archduchy was brought to breaking point as the Anglo-Deltarian Thule Soceity made its resurgence, Kampenkorps reported high civilian causalities as race riots broke out across the nation. The riots began when a group of Thule Terrorists attacked the government Television station and forced it occupants to broadcast a pre-recorded speech by "Godwin", which urged a revival of Anglo-Deltarian supremacy and the "total and utter extermination" of the usurpers. The last remnants of the Bavoria monarchy collapsed when the Freccan, with the help of traitorous members of the Kampenkorps, advanced upon the capital, forcing the Duchess to abdicate. After being thanked by Godwin personally, the Kampenkorp traitors were ordered to slay themselves, which they did after some considerable hesitation and demands for the gold they were promised, and their families were among the first to be placed into the Camps. The Nuclear Plan and self destruction The Thule regime was as ever obsessed with industrialisation, and set into motion the Nuclear Plan. And so it came to pass, after pursuing so vigourously a policy of nuclear power, Voronland's government discovered that not only one but nearly all of it's power stations were dangerously unstable. They endeavoured to keep this a secret, but after Signor plant exploded rendering the capital uninhabitable and causing Godwin to die slowly and painfully of cancer, which also affected his sanity. The opposition's network of corporate spies discovered this, and unfortunately for the people of Voronland, they had no interest in freeing the people but wished only to destroy the regime at all cost. So, acting out of spite and hatred for the nation which they intended to sell to the world market, they attempted to worsen the conditions of the power plants. Then Godwin son's, who was deeply religious, ordered that the nuclear weapons arsenal be launched against the nations own cities because "it is better to die in a nuclear blast caused by good Prodestent men who love God and the way of the Thule, than die in a nuclear blast caused by the wicked." And so ended the Industrial Syndicates of Voronland, destroyed by their own love of technology. Post-Nuclear Era Modern Era